Grocery Store Wars

We've enjoyed this one (especially Caleb). You will too if you enjoy Star Wars or healthy eating!

Snow Day

It's been an unusually snowy winter for us. The kids finished most of their school and are now taking a snow break. I'm sure they'll be asking for hot chocolate when they're done.

Dudes

A question from Joanna tonight as we were driving. - "Dad, why do you call people in other cars Dudes?"

She has noticed Joel's very mild version of road rage. i.e., "Dude, don't cut me off."; "Dude, go!";"Dude, don't pull out in front of me." (You get the idea.)

You can never have too many flashlights...

...according to Joel that is. He did the grocery shopping tonight (which was very nice), but he came home with 2 flashlights. Just before Christmas he did the shopping and he came home with a flashlight and said I could give it to him for Christmas. I like to give him a hard time, cause it seems like we tend to always look at the flashlight aisle. He did need these, but I just thought it was funny. He is Flashlight Man.

Poems Caleb has learned this year

Here is Caleb saying a couple of poems he has learned this year.

"Three Guests"


"Whistle"

"The Turtle"

New van!

We got a "new to us" car last night - a minivan. We've been looking because each of our current cars has approximately 200,000 miles. With all the driving we do to visit family it sure has added up. Also, the car Joel's been driving doesn't really fit the three kids' seats very well in the back, and with another kid on the way it was time to do something. The kids were very excited about the new car and kept saying, "This car is so awesome!" We'll have to remind them when they are teenagers that they once thought a minivan was cool.

Swim Lessons

Joanna and Caleb are enjoying their swim lessons. They have really good teachers. Caleb is a pretty good swimmer--He just struggles with keeping his body above water. He must not have much fat on him to help him at all. Joanna is at the Fish level and really wants to be a Flying Fish. She has to master the breaststroke first. She's got the breathing and arms down, but she forgets to do the frog kick with her legs. Her backstroke is so good. She just is a natural at that one. (These pictures were taken through the glass, so they are not too clear.)

Pajama Day

Today we didn't have to go anywhere so it was a pajama day!! The kids just love being able to stay in their pajamas for a day. It was so nice to get our school done and not have to rush through things. I re-learned that the longitude line at O deg. was called the prime meridian!! We do have Awana tonight so I guess it's about time for pajama day to be over.

Homeschool Co-op classes

Our homeschool group classes start today and the kids are excited. This semester they are continuing on with Human Anatomy. They are going to dissect a cow's eye, sheep brain, fetal pig, and maybe even a cat if one is available. I volunteered to help in that class last semester and I wasn't much help. I felt sick (probably mostly because of early pregnancy nausea) but I don't think that it would be much better this time. The young kids don't know how gross it is!! It's good to get them used to stuff like this before it bothers them. They are also taking Geography, Pre-Biology, Music and a Lego Robotics class.

Joel has off from work today so he's going to join us for lunch too!!

Ice Skating

Joanna & Caleb went ice skating with the homeschool group today. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to share, but they did great. Caleb said he was learning hockey stops from the ice "monitor" and also to go backwards.

Baked Oatmeal

Here's something we've been eating a lot of for breakfast. My kids love it and it fills them up much better than cereal. This also lasts us for a couple of days.

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2007/11/frugal-breakfast-recipe-baked-oatmeal.html

I use all applesauce for the oil and I usually cut the sugar to 1/2-3/4 cup sugar.

Enjoy

Can you guess what Eliana is doing?

Eliana has a sweet tooth!! She asked to lick the rest of the crumbs from the brownies that used to be in the container. I wonder where she gets that from??

Eliana's funny quotes

Here's a couple of things Eliana has said recently.

---"Mom, does dad have leprosy?" - This was on the way home after church, so they must have talked about leprosy in SS.

---"Ha, Ha, Ha! There's a big pile of water there!" - Getting out of the car on a rainy day and she saw a big puddle.

---Joanna was telling us the name of all the bones she was learning in school and listing them for us--"This is my clavicle. This is my sternum. Here are my ribs.....etc" Eliana then piped up and pointed, "These are armpits!"

---"Meefloaf"

---Eliana was playing with a couple of dolls and she very firmly said, "Those are our babies, Pharaoh."

---and just this morning she said while looking at my very big belly, "Mom, do you have food in your tummy?"

Fun with circuits

The kids have fun building electronic circuits with dad. Tonight they built a circuit that can be activated by your voice (or a burp!)

Pile of Kids

They all love piling on dad! I think Joel survived another night (even the poke in the eye from Eliana).

Mice

Rebekah & Samantha spent the afternoon with us because they have some mice issues!! They just got back after being gone for 2 weeks and it sounds like they have taken over. Rebekah set some traps and I said "We're here for the day--come on over." Hopefully, it won't take long to be masters of their house again. It just makes me itch!!

If mummies were real....

Here's a funny thing Caleb said today. He was trying on a shirt that he had gotten for Christmas that had some problems. It was scratching him on his arms and the sleeves shrunk in the wash.

He said, "There's two things wrong with my shirt. First it 'sunk' because mom washed it and it scratches. If mummies were real, then I would be a mummy because I have to walk around like this. " (He was walking with his arms kind of out like a zombie.)

Rollerskating & blading

We went to a homeschool skate this Friday. We had a good time. Caleb practiced mostly on the carpet though since I wasn't willing to take this big baby belly out onto the floor. Today though was a very nice day today so Caleb got to try out his new rollerblades from Christmas.

Castle Bank

Today we went to Home Depot Craft Day and the kids made Castle banks. The kids have a great time with all the different projects so we try to go when we can. They get a pin for their apron for every project that they do--Their aprons are filling up!!